Welcome to Night Vale

A Novel

From the creators of the wildly popular Welcome to Night Vale podcast comes an imaginative mystery of appearances and disappearances that is also a poignant look at the ways in which we all struggle to find ourselves... no matter where we live. Located in a nameless desert somewhere in the great American Southwest, Night Vale is a small town where ghosts, angels, aliens, and government conspiracies are all commonplace parts of everyday life. It is here that the lives of two women, with two mysteries, will converge. Nineteen-year-old Night Vale pawn shop owner Jackie Fierro is given a paper marked "KING CITY" by a mysterious man in a tan jacket holding a deer skin suitcase. Everything about him and his paper unsettles her, especially the fact that she can't seem to get the paper to leave her hand, and that no one who meets this man can remember anything about him. Jackie is determined to uncover the mystery of King City and the man in the tan jacket before she herself unravels. Night Vale PTA treasurer Diane Crayton's son, Josh, is moody and also a shape shifter. And lately Diane's started to see her son's father everywhere she goes, looking the same as the day he left years earlier, when they were both teenagers. Josh, looking different every time Diane sees him, shows a stronger and stronger interest in his estranged father, leading to a disaster Diane can see coming, even as she is helpless to prevent it. Diane's search to reconnect with her son and Jackie's search for her former routine life collide as they find themselves coming back to two words: "KING CITY". It is King City that holds the key to both of their mysteries, and their futures... if they can ever find it.

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This was a strange one. A really fun read, but only if you set aside any preconception of the typical progression of a story. Also set aside logic, the rules of physics, the concept of time, and any sense of normality or personal safety. Welcome to Night Vale is like a dream sequence episode of Twin Peaks melded with one of the more confusing X-Files episodes, written by Hunter S. Thompson on a serious substance induced bender, and then edited by HP Lovecraft to maintain the cosmic horror but keep the swearing to a minimum. It's strange, frightening, funny, trippy, creepy and ends up being a bit heartwarming all at the same time.

I had no experience with the podcast, but after finishing the book jumping back and forth between the print version and the audiobook, I strongly recommend going with the audiobook version. The narrator conveys the strange, creepy vibe of the town and its characters far better than I could in my own head when reading the text. I think my favorite scenes and hilarious references were of the dreaded Librarians of the Night Vale Public Library, and the fates of the poor souls foolish enough to cross them. That or the sentient, telepathic cloud that often presides over important events in town. I'm definitely subscribing to the podcast. If you can stand a visit to Nightvale, you won't want to leave.

The creators of the popular podcast Welcome to Night Vale come to paper with the brilliant, fast-paced story about two women and their inter-joining goals on their search for truth and answers in Night Vale. This book manages to just as creepy and interesting as the podcast while also expanding on the town with new perspectives and answers to the burning questions viewers have about The Man in the Tan Jacket. I really enjoyed this book and it was a wonderful glimpse into the always mysterious town and their very odd ways. King City.

I know that people that really love the podcast series which the book is inspired by will really get into this novelization. I must be the exception as trying to read this was unbelievably hard work and much of the prose is clever for the sake of being clever without it going anywhere. I guess I just don't get what the authors were going after.

This book is a great mystery book. A dumb thing to do while reading this book is to compare it to reality. It would make no sense whatsoever. The best thing you could do is forget everything you know (Apart from the English language) and read with a new fresh mind.

"All hail the mighty glow cloud!" Welcome to Night Vale is a book based off the popular podcast with the premise of what if all conspiracy theories are true in this town. All the favorite characters, from the angels Erica (who officially don’t exist) to the hooded figures in the dog park, are present in this enjoyable read.

In the book we get to follow two of Night Vales citizens, pawn shop owner and forever 19 year-old Jackie Fierro, and Diane Crayton, mother to a shape-shifting teenager, as they try to solve the mystery of the Man in the Tan Jacket and the mysterious words that keep cropping up around town, "King City."

As a Night Vale podcast listener, I truly enjoyed this book. It did take a while to get fully invested in the story as the writers spent more time than they should visiting characters from the podcast that didn't need to be in the book; however, once they stuck to the books plot I couldn't put it down! True to their podcast, the authors create a fabulously weird plot and characters that will amuse and entertain anyone who enjoys a combination of Sci-Fi, conspiracy theories, and small town narratives.

If your reading this book without first having listened to the podcast I can't imagine what your experience is going to be. The characterization and world building of Night Vale is so strong and immersive that I had very high expectations. I ended up really loving how much the writing challenged me as a reader. The characters were interesting and the plot was unique to the Night Vale world.

Fans of the podcast will appreciate this extended visit to the surreal world of Night Vale. Cecil does read the audio. While the storyline is designed to be accessible to the uninitiated, newbies may not find this the best entry point to Night Vale.

I would like to see Night Vale in the Autumn when the leaves are changing. So this book is based on a very popular podcast. I'm still not quite sure what a podcast is. I imagine those pods from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," but I don't think that's accurate. Anywho, this is about a strange little town called Night Vale. Cool nerds like John Darnielle (Mountain Goats), Wil Wheaton, and Cory Doctorow like this, but I couldn't really get into it. Maybe I'm the wrong audience. I'm sure we'll see a movie of this soon.

Quotes

"From the counter, she could see the Man in the Tan Jacket outside. He was running out to the desert. She could just barely see him at the edge of the parking lot’s radius of light. His arms were swinging wildly, his suitcase swinging a long. His legs were flailing. Great puffs of sand kicked up behind him. His head thrown back, sweat visible running down his neck, even from where she sat – the kind of run that was from something, and not toward."

"The other option was to go to the public library. Few people came back from a visit to the library. There was one girl a few years ago that survived the Summer Reading Program at the Night Vale Public Library. The girl, Tamika Flynn, defeated the librarian that imprisoned her and her classmates using the switchblade hidden in every hardback edition of Eudora Welty's touching homecoming novel 'The Optimist's Daughter'. But few who have seen a librarian close up have survived or been in a physical condition to communicate."

""The search for truth takes us to dangerous places. Often it takes us to that most dangerous place: the library". You know who said that? No? George Washington did. Minutes before Librarians ate him."

Summary

Welcome to Night Vale is a unique experience taking a book for a form. The story is about two women whos unlikely stories end up converging in an unlikely way. The story is not only entertaining the whole way throughout the book, but it has some very interestingly wholesome moments. This is a very unique story that is a rollercoaster that will most definitely keep you strapped in the whole time you're on the ride.

From the creators of the wildly popular Welcome to Night Vale podcast comes an imaginative mystery of appearances and disappearances that is also a poignant look at the ways in which we all struggle to find ourselves...no matter where we live.
Located in a nameless desert somewhere in the great American Southwest, Night Vale is a small town where ghosts, angels, aliens, and government conspiracies are all commonplace parts of everyday life. It is here that the lives of two women, with two mysteries, will converge.
Nineteen-year-old Night Vale pawn shop owner Jackie Fierro is given a paper marked "King City" by a mysterious man in a tan jacket holding a deer skin suitcase. Everything about him and his paper unsettles her, especially the fact that she can't seem to get the paper to leave her hand, and that no one who meets this man can remember anything about him. Jackie is determined to uncover the mystery of King City and the man in the tan jacket before she herself unravels.
Night Vale PTA treasurer Diane Crayton's son, Josh, is moody and also a shape shifter. And lately Diane's started to see her son's father everywhere she goes, looking the same as the day he left years earlier, when they were both teenagers. Josh, looking different every time Diane sees him, shows a stronger and stronger interest in his estranged father, leading to a disaster Diane can see coming, even as she is helpless to prevent it.
Diane's search to reconnect with her son and Jackie's search for her former routine life collide as they find themselves coming back to two words: "King City". It is King City that holds the key to both of their mysteries, and their futures...if they can ever find it. Credit: goodreads.com